File Sharers Convicted

File Sharers Convicted - 11/20/0302:43 AM

Three Australian students have been convicted of sharing files over the internet, in what is being marked as the first such case in the world. The three students were charged, and pleaded guilty, with 68 charges of copyright infringement.

Charles Kok Hau Ng, Peter Tran and Tommy Le set up a file sharing website that had 1,800 song titles available for download. Ng and Tran were given 18-month suspended sentenced, whilst Le and Ng must serve 200 hours community service.

According to the prosecuters, the site had some 7 million visitors, though evidence shows just 58 files were distributed. Ng's lawyer said: "Mr Ng was a scavenger, he was not a person who set out to break the back of the music industry."Source